We’re hard at work on our book about Champagne and sparkling wine. (Just the sampling might do us in!)Want to hop on our Champagne bottle and join us in the creative process?Give us your opinion, recommendation or question about bubbly right here!

Hosting Your Own Wine Tasting

When we had our radio show one of the most frequent questions we received was about hosting a wine tasting party. We offer many different types of parties in our book, The Saucy Sisters Guide to Wine – What Every Girl Should Know Before She Unscrews. But regardless of the type of party you want to host, there are some basic guidelines for creating a successful party. So, here is our Saucy Sister checklist for hosting your own wine tasting.

Planning

Choose a style of wine or a region that you’d like to focus on

Stand-up, mingle and casual or sit-down and traditional?

How many people? (one standard bottle will serve 12 people a 2-ounce pour)

Preparation

Select four to six different wines that represent your theme

Prepare food pairings to compliment your wine choices

Provide grading sheets and pens/pencils

Select your stemware – something large enough to swirl (8 – 12 oz)

Consider separate glasses for each wine or one glass with water for rinsing

Provide sufficient dump buckets

Provide water for hydrating

Research the wines so you can talk about them with your guests

Presentation

As your guests arrive, serve them a glass of sparkling wine. The bubbly is always a welcome addition.